How Halifax Measures Up
Every year, the Halifax Index provides an overview of our city’s economic and community progress, and it provides important insights to strengthen and grow Halifax. This 13th annual edition continues to measure Halifax's growth across a wide range of key indicators and progress toward Halifax’s Inclusive Economic Strategy goals.
In past years, the Halifax Index used data for the Halifax Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) to analyze our city. This geographic designation, until recently, closely matched the political borders of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Statistics Canada’s recent revisions have added East Hants to the Halifax CMA. As a community of roughly 26,500 residents, it has materially impacted statistics we use to analyze Halifax. Data included in the Halifax Index continue to use the CMA unless indicated otherwise. However, several tables are updated to cover the Halifax Economic Region (ER), a geography that still closely aligns to HRM’s political boundaries.
We continue to measure Halifax against a suite of major Canadian cities. Our “benchmark cities” comprise St. John’s, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (KCW), Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver.